Nucleic acid-based technologies are increasingly important for various therapeutic applications including, but not limited to, messenger RNA therapy, gene therapy, and gene editing, to name but a few. Such therapeutic applications typically require administration of exogenous polynucleotides (e.g. DNA or RNA), which is often hampered by the limited stability of such polynucleotides. For example, following their administration to a subject, many polynucleotides may be subject to nuclease (e.g. exonuclease and/or endonuclease) degradation. Nuclease degradation may negatively influence the capability of a polynucleotide to reach a target cell or to be transcribed and/or translated, the result of which is to preclude the exogenous polynucleotide from exerting an intended therapeutic effect.